Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Pragmatic Ma Moves Capital to Nanjing

Taiwan black pigs, 1915.

I'm too lazy to search for all the media descriptions of President Ma Ying-jeou as "pragmatic." I'm sure there probably still are a few desperately out of touch individuals who see Ma as pragmatic. But for those of us living in the real world, nothing could be more in character for Ma, who is a right-wing nationalist ideologue, than his Ministry of Education moving the capital back to Nanjing. No really: the TT reports today:
A government document ordering schools’ procurement of teaching materials that mark Nanjing as the capital of the Republic of China (ROC) and Taipei as the current location of the central government indicated President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration’s persistent attempts to promote the links between Taiwan and China, as well as the administration’s misinterpretation of the Constitution, lawmakers and academics said yesterday.

A photograph posted by National Taipei University of Education professor Lee Hsiao-feng (李筱峰) on Facebook yesterday, which showed a Ministry of Education document issued on Monday to schools nationwide, went viral on the Internet.

“The document reflects the Ma administration’s ideology and its state of mind as a government-in-exile, which the majority of Taiwanese do not agree with. We should not be surprised because Ma has always tried to go against the trend,” Lee said.
And you know when he steps down the international media, toadies to the end, will praise him for being pragmatic...

On my Facebook today someone joked that Ma would then go on to appoint representatives for the provinces in China lost to the CCP. Two days ago I might have found that joke funny. Now I find it... unsettling. As the article points out, this is a Party that still believes it owns Mongolia.....
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how comically they are going to walk this back.

It is really interesting what is being done in Taiwan to give the Chinese the perception that the chasm between how Taiwanese imagine themselves and how Chinese imagine Taiwanese themselves is not as great as it really is. I think a lot of these moves are being done for an audience in Beijing.

Anonymous said...

Right-wing? Hahaha.

He'd be the first right-wing president in history then, who chooses dialog over confrontation, decreases military spending, makes it easier for immigrants / foreigners to settle in the country, embraces international standards, etc.

Ma may be many things but he's definitely not right wing.

Taiwanese Christian said...

KMT is the most pragmatic party in the world and each its Chairmen, from Sun, Chiang, to Ma, is very pragmatic. KMT was born as a Soviet Communist puppy (all western powers had supported other war lords so Dr. Sun could only get help from the Russian). But KMT also has always adored the Nazi and their nationalism craze.

A KMT chairman will do anything and work with any one as long as it will increase the wealth and power for the party elites. If my memory serves well, KMT claimed Chinese Communists are the most devilish enemy for the Taiwanese just twenty years ago and KMT says Chinese Communists are the sweetest angel for the Taiwanese now.

It's impossible to hate a guy like KMT Chairman, right?

Anonymous said...

"KMT also has always adored the Nazi and their nationalism craze."

I've always found it odd that the ROC presidential swear-in ceremony involved the Nazi-like salute. I think you just gave me the answer to that age old question.

Anonymous said...

They cannot not stick to the old KMT belief, it's got nothing to do with facing the truth. Officially ROC is still considering itself CHINA, but currently administering taiwan region. Outer Mongolia aside, if ROC ever openly admit that they no longer consider mainland china part of them, whatever supporters left in mainland china will get the idea that "ROC doesn't care about us." Whether it is a "democratic unification" or "taiwanese independence" these cannot be achieve by just the taiwanese alone, I doubt America will or can do anything to help. You can be anti-CCP, but you can't be anti-"chinese" at least not now.